


Red Core

by ScholarQuirrel



Category: Hollow Knight (Video Game)
Genre: Childbirth, Egg Laying, Other, Oviposition, implied past sexual encounter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-29
Updated: 2019-03-29
Packaged: 2019-12-26 04:31:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18275834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScholarQuirrel/pseuds/ScholarQuirrel
Summary: It is what it says on the tin.





	Red Core

**Author's Note:**

> I have nothing to say for myself.

Ghost was used to solitude. They’d spent ages wandering the wastelands outside of Hallownest alone, and even most of their journey through the ruined kingdom had been done without any others at their side. They knew loneliness, and upon completing their quest and vanquishing the Old Light, they’d accepted it as their fate.

So when they unwittingly found themselves as a consort of the Grimm Troupe’s leader, they couldn’t help but feel out of place.

When they’d first fought Grimm, they delighted in the deadly and passionate battle. He moved like nothing they’d ever seen before, and when the dance was over they were left breathless and exhilarated.

Though they knew he hadn’t come to Dirtmouth simply to fight them, they were still surprised when he’d encouraged them to visit without a single pretense or implication of dueling with them once more. Instead, he’d regaled them with dancing scarlet flames and conducted a grand performance with his grimmkin. Ghost couldn’t ever remember experiencing anything similar in the past, so when Grimm himself approached them personally and invited them to the back of his tent, they had no reason to assume anything amiss.

Little did they know that he’d engage them in a different kind of passionate dance.

It wasn’t like they were ignorant to the more carnal aspects of their nature. Ghost remembered every instance where they’d been complimented on their appearance. Personally, they thought themselves plain, but the inhabitants of Hallownest tended to disagree.

Then they found themselves in the more than experienced hands of Grimm, who touched and excited them in ways they’d never known. Several times, they woke with his arm slung across their body, warmth surrounding them as they nestled closely to the troupe master as they slept atop a veritable mountain of cushions.

At first, they’d wanted nothing to do with the ritual, but that was before they’d gotten to know the charismatic troupe leader. Ghost was tired of being on their own, and if doing this for Grimm would make them any less lonely, then they would do it.

Now, they themselves were draped across the vast expanse of pillows with their legs spread. Their cloak had been discarded somewhere in the room, but at this time they didn’t want it getting in the way. If they looked to their side, they could see Grimm reclining next to them, his eyes closed as one of his hands rested atop their abdomen, a soft red glow emanating from their core. Ghost might have been a stranger to intimacy, but they liked knowing that he was close by.

It wasn’t exactly time yet, but they could feel the egg inside them, its unfamiliar warmth emanating outward. What had first been only a tiny spark floating in the void-filled expanse of their body was now a fully realized flame. It was only a matter of time before—

Ghost’s musings were interrupted as an unfamiliar sensation rippled through their body. They inhaled sharply and tossed their head back against the pile of soft cushions, their movements drawing Grimm out of his idle dozing and into sudden alertness as he became aware of his surroundings. When they looked up at his face, there was an unmistakable jagged grin spreading across his face as he gazed down at them.

“Finally! I was getting worried that I’d have to pull it out of you myself, darling.” Though his words might have alarmed anyone else, Ghost was used to Grimm’s somewhat morbid teasing. For a moment they lamented the loss of his touch on their body, though they soon relaxed once more when he brought his hands to their sides and began to gently massage away the aches they’d only just begun to notice.

“How do you feel, my love? Do you need anything? Food? Water? Soul, perhaps?” Grimm’s offer was tempting, as the extra soul would help them recover from the ordeal faster, but Ghost didn’t particularly want to dissipate one of his many, many servants at that moment. The sensation of the egg trying to leave their body was uncomfortable at best, and they would rather focus all their attention on getting it out as soon as possible.

After another tremor reached their lower half, Ghost saw it pertinent to start pushing, their claws digging into the pillows below their body as they attempted to force the smooth orb out of their body. On their third attempt, they felt Grimm’s hands leave their sides as he manipulated their body and pulled Ghost into his lap.

“Lets try it this way, darling.” Leaning their head back on his shoulder, while simultaneously being mindful of their horns, Ghost found Grimm clutching one of their hands tightly while the other reached around their body to lightly press against their abdomen.

Having no voice meant they couldn’t even cry out as their new position caused the egg to shift lower. The process still wasn’t enjoyable, but a few more strained pushes brought Ghost some relief as they squeezed Grimm’s hand, their grip tightening as the barest hint of translucent shell began to peek out from between their legs.

One silent gasp later meant the end of their ordeal as Grimm reached down between their thighs to catch the egg just as it slipped out from their core, a rush of slick black liquid following in its wake.

Both parents— they were a parent now, Ghost realized —leaned back into the nest of cushions as they tried to steady their breathing. Glancing over to their partner, they watched silently as Grimm gently wiped away the refuse from the egg’s surface with his cloak, ignoring the dark stains they left on the fabric before setting down the glowing orb between them. With a sigh, they felt their eyes close reflexively before the sensation of something brushing up against the inside of their leg made them sit up again.

“Oh, don’t mind me, gorgeous. You did so well, let me take care of you.” Grimm crooned softly as he cleaned up the last remnants of fluid from their body. As soon as he was done, Ghost relaxed into the bedding with Grimm’s arms wrapped around their waist.

Before sleep could finally claim them, Ghost reached up and let one of their hands rest on the egg’s surface, an untold amount of affection flooding them as they felt the heat flutter beneath their fingertips.

_I will take care of you, I promise._


End file.
